Luggage handle assembly



Dec. 24, 1963 v. SHANOK ETAL 3,115,227

LUGGAGE HANDLE ASSEMBLY" Filed Dec. 18, 1959 IN V EN TORS United States Patent (3 3,115,227 LUGGAGE HANDLE ASSEMELY Victor Eihanolr and .iesse l. Shanolr, both of 863 65th St, Brooklyn 2% N.Y. Filed Dec. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 860,467 1 Claim. (tCl. 190-57) This invention relates to a luggage handle assembly and more particularly to a luggage handle formed principally of strip thermoplastic material.

It is an object of this invention to provide a luggage handle assembly which may be readily and conveniently manufactured and attached to an article of luggage, said assembly having the requisite strength for supporting an article of luggage and providing a comfortable hand grip for the person carrying the luggage.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a luggage handle assembly of the character indicated, which, in addition to possessing the foregoing qualities, is capable of producing a highly pleasing aesthetic effect and which will add considerable aesthetic appeal and enhance the ornamental appearance of the article of luggage with which it is associated.

It is another object of this invention to provide a luggage handle of the character indicated which may be readily formed by the extrusion process and associated with a luggage article in an effective and convenient manner.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a luggage handle assembly wherein the principal surfaces are exposed to view and provide aesthetically pleasing ornamental effects.

Other and more specific objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description as read in connection with the accompanying drawings and claim.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a luggage handle assembly in accordance with the present invention attached to an article of luggage;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view, partly in cross section showing the elements comprising the handle assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section of the luggage handle assembly taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a fragment of the luggage handle assembly.

As may be seen from FIGURES l and 2, the luggage handle assembly, designated genarlly by the numeral 10, comprising the present invention, is formed of a channel member 11 within which an insert strip 12 is disposed. The ornamental insert strip 12 comprises a strip of core material 13 which is encapsulated and completely enclosed or ensheathed by an envelope 14. The core strip 13 advantageously comprises a strip of aluminum foil which, preferably being of the order of .002 to .004, is flexible in character. Said strip of core material may, if desired, be provided with a decorative imprint or embossment. The insert strip 12 is advantageously formed by extruding an envelope 14 of the thermoplastic material over the core 13 to form a continuous length of the insert strip material. In extruding the insert strip, a smooth surface may be provided or one or both of the principal sur aces of the envelope may be formed with corrugations 15, or with any other decorative surface configuration which may be readily imparted thereto during the extrusion process. Although a number of thermoplastic materials are suitable for the instant purpose, we have found it to be highly advantageous, in order to achieve the benefits of this invention, to utilize cellulose acetate butyrate for this purpose. The combination of this material with an aluminum foil results 3,ll5,227 Patented Dec. 24, I963 in an insert strip having the requisite tensile strength which may be readily flexed or curved along its longitudinal axis While resisting flexure in the transverse direction. The material may therefore be curved to any desired arc in forming the luggage handle while resisting collapse or flexure in the transverse direction under the weight of the luggage article while being manually supported. Cellulose acetate butyrate possesses sufiicient rigidity while being resiliently flexible in the direction indicated for the purpose of providing the desired characteristics in the ultimate article. The cellulose acetate butyrate envelope is of transparent form thereby exposing the aluminum foil to view and providing the appearance of a highly polished chrome or silver strip material. Furthermore, by tinting the material, it is possible to produce gold, brass and colored effects. The tinting material or dye employed does not materially affect the transparency of the plastic and consequently, highlydesired decorative effects may be achieved with the aluminum foil core. Thus, for example, tinting the plastic material amber or yellow, results in an insert strip which presents the appearance of polished brass or gold. The surface configurations on the plastic material furtherserve to enhance the decorative effect. It should be noted that the plastic envelope l4 not only enhances the aesthetic appearance and contributes mechanical characteristics for incorporation in the assembly, but additionally provides a sheath which protects the aluminum foil and prevents the adverse elfects which Would result from body perspiration while the luggage handle is being held for prolonged periods of time. The envelope 14 therefore serves the functions of preventing physical or chemical damage to the foil among others.

The ornamental insert strip 14 is received within channel member 11. Said channel member comprises a Web 16, the longitudinal edges of which are provided with inturned flanges or beads 17.

As may be additionally seen from FIGURES 3 and 4, the inturned beads 17 are provided with smooth convexly arcuate outer surfaces. The channel member 11 is advantageously formed of a transparent elastomeric thermoplastic material, such as plasticized polyvinyl chloride and is similarly advantageously formed by the extrusion process in a continuous length. The insert and channel strips may be simultaneously formed by a double-extrusion process, or these strips may be independently formed and the insert strip snapped into position within the channel defined by the web and beads due to the resiliently flexible character of the material. When the insert strip 12 is disposed within the channel strip member ill in the manner indicated in FIGURES 3 and 4, one surface of the insert strip is disposed in planar face-to-face contact with the interior surface of the web 16 of the channel strip and is retained in position by means of the inturned beads 17 in engagement with the confronting longitudinal side edges of the insert strip. As indicated, it has been found advantageous to utilize a transparent material for the channel strip 11 so that a surface of the insert strip 12 is visible through the web portion of the channel member. As a consequence of this arrangement, the highly decorative appearance of the insert strip is visible along the undersurface 13 of the channel strip and the entire assembly presents a highly decorative appearance. The plastic material from which the channel strip is formed is of a softer nature than the plastic material from which the insert strip is formed, so that, when the handle is gripped by the human hand, the contacting surfaces between the hand and the luggage handle material are soft and smooth to provide a cushioning effect which greatly enhances the comfort of the person carrying the luggage. This comfort feature is considerably enhanced by the convex configuration of the inturned beads which form side cushions along the longitudinal edges of the handle, which areas 17 are normally the source of a cutting action on the hand and therefore of considerable discomfort. The beads 17 being formed of a soft cushioning elastomeric material and being enlarged to present a substantially enlarged contact surface area as compared to the area of the side edges of the insert strip, make for a comfortable. hand grip while retaining the advantages desired from the stiffer insert material. The overlap formed by the beads in addition to serving the foregoing functions also provides a highly ornamental frame for the insert strip, making possible the achievement of additional ornamental eifects. It is, of course, possible to achieve benefits of this invention by the use of a tinted material for the channel member so as to provide a certain degree of contrast between the insert strip and the channel member, if desired. In this connection, some of the aesthetic benefits of this invention may even be achieved by employing opaque materials.

In completing the luggage handle, the continuous strip of the assembled insert and channel material is cut to suitable length and provided with end ferrules 19 or other means for attachment to an article of luggage, as indicated at 21}, as is well understood in the art. The completed assembly may be longitudinally flexed to form handles of various arcuate configurations and a singl handle length may therefore be readily accommodated to various forms of luggage thereby limiting the number of sizes in which the assembly is initially formed. The assembly provides an arrangement possessing the requisite strength and comfort incorporated in a structure of highly ornamental appearance. It will be understood that other forms of plastic materials having suitable characteristics may be employed to achieve the objects of this invention in varying degrees. This channel member may, thus, for example, be formed of polyethylene. Furthermore, the channel and insert assembly may be employed for the purposes to which the structure and arrangement are adapted, as for example, in belts by providing suitable fittings or securing means for the terminal portions of suitable lengths thereby realizing many of the benefits thereof.

While we have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be apparent however that this invention is not limited to this embodiment and that many changes, additions and modifications can be made in connection therewith without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein disclosed 4 and hereinafter claimed. Having described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A luggage handle comprising a channel member formed of plastic material, said channel member having a web which is provided along the longitudinal edges thereof with enlarged inturned beads, each of said beads having surface contours which define in cross-section a narrowed neck portion and an enlarged bulbous head which extends upwardly from the upper surface of said web portion and is bendable inwardly toward the latter in response to hand pressure, said contours having convex outer surface portions extending into the lower surface of said web portion and concave inner surface portions which extend into the upper surface of said web, said concave inner surface portions defining confronting recesses which underlie confronting convex portions of said bulbous heads, said confronting recesses extending outwardly from said web and said confronting convex portions extending inwardly toward said web, and an insert strip comprising a core strip ensheathed by an envelope of plastic material, said insert strip being disposed in said channel member so that one surface thereof is in planar face-to-face contact with the upper surface of said web, the opposite longitudinal edges of said insert extending into said confronting recesses in which they are retained by the overlying convex portions of said bulbous heads, said insert being formed of a relatively stiff material and said channel member being formed of a cushioning elastomeric material, whereby said beads are adapted to cushion the side edges of said strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 233,414 Hays Oct. 19, 1880 2,035,671 Sauer Mar. 31, 1936 2,124,210 Prindle July 19, 1938 2,155,801 Reiter Apr. 25, 1939 2,229,225 Schneider Jan. 21, 1941 2,657,161 Luitwieler Oct. 27, 1953 2,686,745 De Matteo Aug. 17, 1954 2,781,878 Finkelstein Feb. 19, 1957 3,024,147 Brooks et al. Mar. 6, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 934,058 France Jan. 7, 1948 668,240 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1952 

